[0:00] You guys are beating me to the punch.
[0:02] Hold on. You all set, Eric?
[0:05] >> Excellent. Good evening, everyone.
[0:06] Welcome to the Bristol Town Council
[0:08] meeting of June 3rd. If you could all
[0:10] rise for the pledge of allegiance.
[0:13] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[0:15] United States of America and to the
[0:17] republic for which it stands, one nation
[0:20] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:23] justice for all.
[0:25] >> Thanks everyone. Welcome, Madam Clerk.
[0:28] >> Mr. Chairman and members of the council.
[0:30] The first item of business is the
[0:31] consent agenda.
[0:32] >> Motion to approve the consent agenda.
[0:35] >> Motion made by Tim, seconded by Tony as
[0:38] stated. Any discussion?
[0:40] >> Hearing none. All in favor? I.
[0:41] >> Any opposed?
[0:42] >> Thank you.
[0:43] >> The next item on the agenda is the
[0:45] submission of minutes. We have the town
[0:46] council meeting minutes of May 13th as
[0:48] well as the executive session meeting
[0:50] minutes from May 13th.
[0:52] >> Motion to approve. Second.
[0:53] >> Motion made by Tim, seconded by Tony.
[0:55] Any discussion? Hearing none, all in
[0:58] favor? I
[0:59] >> any opposed
[1:00] >> you.
[1:01] >> The next item agenda is ordinance uh C1.
[1:04] This is ordinance 2026-6.
[1:06] This is amendment to the chapter 16
[1:08] motor vehicles and traffic section
[1:10] 16143, section 16152
[1:14] and section section 16345 and this is
[1:17] for parking regulations on Bird Street.
[1:20] >> Make a motion to approve it. Second.
[1:22] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim to
[1:25] approve. Discussion
[1:27] hearing. None. All in favor? I. Any
[1:29] opposed?
[1:30] >> Thank you.
[1:31] >> The next item on the agenda is C2. This
[1:33] is ordinance 2026-7.
[1:35] This is amendments to chapter 11,
[1:37] section 11-1 of the comprehensive
[1:39] schedule of fees. And this is for the
[1:41] zoning and planning related fee changes.
[1:43] This is second reading.
[1:45] >> Make a motion to approve it. Second.
[1:47] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim to
[1:50] approve these updated related fee
[1:52] charges. Any discussion? Hearing none.
[1:54] All in favor? I.
[1:55] >> Any opposed? Thank you.
[1:58] >> The next item is C3. This is ordinance
[2:00] 2026-8.
[2:02] This is amendment to chapter 16, motor
[2:04] vehicles and traffic section 16345.
[2:08] And this is to amend the parking on
[2:10] Bradford Street between Hope and
[2:11] Central. Second reading.
[2:13] >> Motion to approve. Second.
[2:15] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim to
[2:17] approve. Discussion. I'll take a quick
[2:20] moment just if it I always say this when
[2:22] we go through these very quickly. If it
[2:23] feels like we're going through them very
[2:24] quick, we are. Um these are all second
[2:27] readings. We've had discussion um and uh
[2:31] explanation on the first readings
[2:33] including this one which is updating
[2:35] Bradford Street. The signage and the uh
[2:39] ordinance will now coincide.
[2:41] >> Any other discussion? Hearing none. All
[2:44] in favor.
[2:45] >> Any opposed? Thank you.
[2:47] >> The next item on the agenda is D1. This
[2:49] is Nikki Tisa. This is for Bo Blue
[2:51] Boutique 433 Hope Street. This is a
[2:53] request for a sidewalk use license for a
[2:55] new location
[2:56] >> based on the positive recommendations.
[2:58] So, make a motion to approve.
[2:59] >> Second.
[3:00] >> Motion made by Tim, seconded by Tony.
[3:02] Any discussion?
[3:03] >> Hearing none. All in favor?
[3:04] >> I.
[3:05] >> Any opposed? Thank you.
[3:07] >> The next item on the agenda is D2. This
[3:09] is Harbor Master Marcili, chairman of
[3:11] the Harbor Festival Committee. This is a
[3:13] request for 1-day dancing and
[3:14] entertainment lessons at Rockwell Park
[3:16] for the 13th annual Harbor Festival to
[3:18] be held on August 15th from 1:00 p.m. to
[3:21] 8:00 p.m.
[3:22] >> Before we get a motion, can I have a
[3:24] motion to combine F1? Does that
[3:27] coincides
[3:27] >> F1 and D2?
[3:28] >> So move.
[3:29] >> Yes.
[3:30] >> Second.
[3:30] >> So we had a motion uh made by uh Tony,
[3:33] seconded by Tim to combine F1 to this
[3:37] current item, which is D2. Any
[3:40] discussion hearing? None. All in favor?
[3:42] >> I. Any opposed? Excellent. So, we we're
[3:45] moving forward to say yes to this. But
[3:47] the uh Madame Clerk, if you could read
[3:50] out F1.
[3:50] >> F1 is Harbor Master Marcili, chairman of
[3:52] the Harbor Festival Committee. This is a
[3:54] request to sell and you sell and serve
[3:56] alcohol at Rockwell Park on for the 13th
[3:59] annual Harbor Festival to be held on
[4:01] August 15th from 1 to 8:00 p.m.
[4:05] >> So, we just need a motion on We'll just
[4:07] get a motion for both, I would say.
[4:08] >> Yes, I I would say so. And I'm not sure
[4:11] should we really approve this.
[4:13] >> This is the 13th tier this is happening,
[4:16] >> you know. No, Greg, good job. We
[4:19] appreciate, you know, all the years that
[4:21] it's being uh held and obviously uh you
[4:25] know, it means a lot, you know, uh not
[4:27] just the uh the festival, but the
[4:29] blessing of the fleet as well. So, we we
[4:32] thank you for keep things moving along.
[4:35] >> Thank you.
[4:36] >> I'll second the motion. Motion made by
[4:38] Tony, seconded by Tim to approve both F1
[4:42] and D2 discussion.
[4:45] Mr. Harvester, would you like to take a
[4:47] moment to share with the public what
[4:48] this actually is?
[4:49] >> So, uh, August 15th, we'll be down at
[4:51] Rockwell Park. The blessing of the fleet
[4:53] will start at 1:00. Bring the boats
[4:55] down. They do a quick little pray
[4:57] through. Father Zena will be down to
[4:58] throw some holy water on us. And then
[5:01] we'll uh we'll have some fun festivities
[5:02] in the park as usual. stuff competition.
[5:04] Chowder, clam cakes, steaks, clam boils.
[5:08] Tickets will be on sale very soon.
[5:10] >> If one wants to buy tickets, and one
[5:12] really should. Yes. How would they do
[5:14] it?
[5:14] >> Well, you can come by the hardmasters
[5:16] office and then we'll have a bunch of uh
[5:18] posters app with some QR codes where
[5:20] they go right online and buy it or or
[5:21] offer a website.
[5:23] >> Excellent.
[5:23] >> Bristolfest.com. Don't confuse the one
[5:25] in England.
[5:26] >> And I believe there's two options.
[5:28] >> Two options. You can get the clam boil,
[5:30] little necks or uh steaks. Steaks are
[5:34] awesome. Hand cut ribeye.
[5:36] >> And there'll be watermelon and corn with
[5:38] it.
[5:39] >> There's always watermelon. You you
[5:40] forget watermelon one year. I mean these
[5:43] it drags on for 13. So
[5:47] >> hot dogs for the kids for free. So
[5:49] >> sorry, Greg. I had to bring it down. I
[5:51] know. You know,
[5:52] >> I made a mistake once,
[5:54] >> but you know, we won't let you live it
[5:56] down.
[5:57] >> Any other discussion from the council?
[5:58] and Greg Rain or Sean. It's August 15th,
[6:01] right? This is one nos.
[6:03] >> So, come right down. Yeah. All right.
[6:05] >> Well, we're looking forward to seeing
[6:06] everybody. Thank you.
[6:07] >> Hearing no other discussion. All in
[6:08] favor? I.
[6:09] >> Any opposed? Thank you. Good luck.
[6:10] >> Good luck.
[6:11] >> Thank you,
[6:13] >> Mr. Chairman and members of the council.
[6:15] The next item on the agenda is Z3. This
[6:17] is David Harworth Fair and Square
[6:19] Pizzeria, 9 Gooding Avenue. This is a
[6:21] request for vetering license.
[6:26] » I think Benjamin here. He is
[6:28] >> excellent. Benjamin looks very familiar
[6:30] from Ricotti.
[6:31] >> Yes, that's right. Same actually.
[6:32] >> Yes. Excellent. Um before you speak, is there a motion to approve or?
[6:39] >> Yes, I'll make a motion to approve based
[6:40] on recommendations.
[6:41] >> Is there a second?
[6:42] >> Second.
[6:43] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim.
[6:46] Discussion. Benjamin, tell us what
[6:48] you're doing.
[6:48] >> Sure. Uh so we're opening a sourdough
[6:51] Detroit pizzeria in the old Domino's
[6:52] location.
[6:53] >> Put the mic up if you want. You
[6:54] >> sure? Uh so it's a sourdough Detroit
[6:56] pizzeria. um opening the old Domino's
[6:58] location right next to Ricottis. We'll
[6:59] be the only one in the entire state
[7:01] doing this. Uh our goal is to sell a
[7:03] really high-end artisan product at a
[7:05] very affordable price and we can do that
[7:07] by keeping a small menu and low
[7:08] overhead. So you notice we have no
[7:10] dining room is takeout only but um we
[7:12] think it's going to be something really
[7:14] great and we're opening uh June 13th.
[7:16] >> June 13th.
[7:17] >> Yes.
[7:18] >> Excellent.
[7:20] >> Typically we ask for samples, you know,
[7:24] to make sure the product is up to speed.
[7:26] I'm sure we can figure something.
[7:26] >> You have a lot of really good
[7:28] competition around town. So,
[7:29] >> yes, we we did run this pizza for about
[7:31] a year out of Ricottis every Friday. So,
[7:33] that's kind of what caused this to
[7:35] happen.
[7:36] >> Great. Good.
[7:37] >> From a lot of success, so I'm sure it'll
[7:39] continue.
[7:39] >> Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
[7:41] >> Any other discussion from the council?
[7:42] >> No, I just want to say thank you for
[7:43] staying in Bristol and and uh good luck.
[7:46] >> Thank you very much. We want to be there
[7:48] a long time.
[7:49] >> All in favor?
[7:50] >> Any opposed? Good luck. Good luck.
[7:52] >> Thank you very much everybody. Thank you
[7:53] for your time.
[7:54] The next item on the agenda is D4. This
[7:57] is Daniel Manchester for Bristol
[7:58] Historical Preservation Society. This is
[8:00] a request for mobile food establishment
[8:02] event permit for the annual flea and
[8:04] fair for August 8th from 9:00 a.m. to 4
[8:07] p.m.
[8:08] >> Based on the recommendations, I make a
[8:10] motion that we approve it. Second
[8:12] >> motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim to
[8:14] approve. Any discussion? Hearing none.
[8:16] All in favor?
[8:17] >> Any opposed?
[8:19] >> Thank you.
[8:20] >> The next item on the agenda is D5. This
[8:22] is arts in common for Porchfest 2026.
[8:24] This is a request for one-day dancing
[8:26] and entertainment license and street
[8:28] closure of a six block section of High
[8:30] Street from Wall-E to Biffield Streets
[8:32] on Sunday, September 20th from 2:30 to
[8:35] 6:30.
[8:37] >> Based on the recommendations, I make a
[8:39] motion. Do we approve it?
[8:41] >> Second.
[8:42] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim to
[8:44] approve. Any discussion?
[8:45] >> Uh, yes. just there's no one here but uh
[8:48] just making them aware of and I'm sure
[8:50] they it's never been an issue about the
[8:52] police and fire details and uh also the
[8:56] coordination with DPW about um you know
[8:59] blocking the streets you know so
[9:00] >> well said
[9:02] >> and also uh I think there's a rain date
[9:04] for September 27th so I don't know if we
[9:07] need to include that in the motion or
[9:08] not but
[9:09] >> yes
[9:10] >> okay
[9:11] >> any other discussion hearing none all in
[9:14] favor
[9:14] >> I Any opposed? Thank you.
[9:18] >> The next item on the agenda is D6. This
[9:20] is Char uh Charles Mcdana, Bristol 4th
[9:22] of July committee. This is a request for
[9:24] the mobile food truck establishment
[9:26] event permit for outdoor concert series
[9:28] at Independence Park. This is from June
[9:30] 21st through July 2nd from 4 p.m. to 10
[9:32] p.m.
[9:35] >> Based in the uh positive
[9:37] recommendations, I make a motion to
[9:39] approve it.
[9:40] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Mary.
[9:42] Any discussion? Uh Charles Chuck is not
[9:46] here. I had a question. I was looking
[9:48] through the uh sketch there and I didn't
[9:51] see where the Porter Johns were located.
[9:53] If does did somebody else notice that or
[9:56] you know where they uh they're located
[9:59] them?
[10:00] >> I am not aware of that. Yeah, I looked
[10:02] at the uh
[10:03] >> they're typically sketch and you know I
[10:06] know because things will be modified for
[10:08] the the food trucks to go along themes
[10:11] and then you know handicap parking into
[10:14] the uh the commercial fisherman area.
[10:17] So, I was just wondering, I mean, it's
[10:19] no big deal. You know,
[10:21] >> past years it had been against the dock
[10:24] area, which is now a new dock area,
[10:27] right?
[10:28] >> Um, would you like to make the motion so
[10:30] it includes clarity on that?
[10:31] >> Not really.
[10:32] >> No. No. Okay.
[10:33] >> I'll pass up on that. Okay.
[10:35] >> I'm sure you know I'll hold off on the
[10:38] other comment I was going to make.
[10:40] >> I didn't know where you were going. So,
[10:42] >> any other discussion?
[10:43] >> No, I was just happy to see there was a
[10:45] comprehensive security plan. uh for
[10:48] this. I mean, it's a major part of the
[10:50] Fourth of July celebration. So, uh I
[10:52] think it's a even though it's down near
[10:54] Independence Park, we had some
[10:55] hesitation in the past, it seems like
[10:57] it's been well thought out and um
[10:59] definitely in support.
[11:01] >> And to speak to Tim's point, included in
[11:04] our packet is a fact sheet for food
[11:07] truck safety. And that talks about
[11:09] things like placement of the trucks,
[11:10] which of course the police chief weighed
[11:12] in on and his department weighed in on
[11:14] uh and also um where uh generators go
[11:19] and LP containers such and so forth. So
[11:21] there was to Tim's point, it was well
[11:24] thought out, comprehensive.
[11:25] >> Yes.
[11:26] >> Any other discussion?
[11:28] >> Hearing none. All in favor? Any opposed?
[11:31] >> Thank you.
[11:32] >> The next item on the agenda is F2. This
[11:34] is Lena Aml, 192nd School Street. This
[11:37] is a request for accessible parking spot
[11:39] in the vicinity of the residence.
[11:42] >> Chief, your recommendation to the
[11:44] council was to deny um and the way I
[11:48] read it was because there is a uh the
[11:51] resident has um a driveway. Could you
[11:54] expand upon it a bit? I know we have it,
[11:56] but just for the public in the record.
[11:58] >> Yes, Captain Wney worked with DPW
[12:01] Director Pller and they determined that
[12:03] there was ample off- streetet parking um
[12:05] at that residence. That's the basis for
[12:07] the denial
[12:11] » council.
[12:12] >> Actually, I took it right. I mean, I
[12:14] trust their recommendations, but just
[12:16] out of curiosity, you know, because
[12:18] we've had a couple things on the
[12:20] handicap parking and in in the area and
[12:23] I was just very curious, so I took a
[12:25] ride, but I concur that there's ample
[12:28] space off street.
[12:30] >> Okay. So based on the recommendations
[12:33] and the uh available off- streetet
[12:35] parking, I make a motion to deny.
[12:37] >> Second.
[12:38] >> Motion made by Tim, seconded by Tony as
[12:40] stated. Any discussion?
[12:42] >> Hearing none. All in favor?
[12:44] >> I.
[12:44] >> Any opposed? Thank you,
[12:46] >> Mr. Chairman and members of the council.
[12:48] The next item on the agenda is G1. This
[12:50] is the Bristol Christmas Festival. This
[12:52] is for one year expired term set to
[12:54] expire February 2026. So we have the
[12:56] recommendation from the chairwoman Tanya
[12:59] Kerrion for the Christmas festival 2026.
[13:02] >> Uh based on the recommendation of the
[13:04] chair I make a recommend I mean I
[13:07] recommend we approve it.
[13:09] >> Second motion made by Tony seconded by
[13:12] Mary as stated. Any discussion hearing?
[13:15] None. All in favor.
[13:16] >> Any opposed? Thank you.
[13:19] >> The next item on the agenda is G2. This
[13:21] is the historic district commission. And
[13:22] this is for one three-year unexpired
[13:24] member position set to expire July 2027.
[13:27] And we have Michael Olaflin with
[13:29] interest in re um resignation. And then
[13:32] we have Robert Paige who is the first
[13:35] alternate with interest in being
[13:36] elevated and Robert Chimera um who is
[13:39] the second alternate with interest in
[13:41] being elevated. I make a motion that we
[13:44] approve the uh resignation and uh I was
[13:48] reading through Melissa's notes and uh I
[13:50] think she really covers the thank you uh
[13:52] already through the the communication
[13:55] with him. Um and I also included a
[13:59] motion to elevate Robert Page.
[14:03] >> You'd be elevating both plates. I think
[14:06] there's only one position on the uh
[14:08] >> No, I mean one
[14:10] up to the alternate and the second
[14:11] alternate up to the first alternate and
[14:13] then
[14:13] >> and we advertise right
[14:16] yes
[14:16] >> you are very right.
[14:18] >> That's exactly what I said. Thank you.
[14:21] >> Is there a second?
[14:22] >> Second.
[14:22] >> All right. So the motion made by Tony,
[14:24] seconded by Mary was to um move Robert
[14:29] Page to the full position which is being
[14:32] vacated by Michael Olaflin and to then
[14:35] move Robert Camaro to the first
[14:37] alternate position. Any discussion
[14:39] >> and advertise
[14:39] >> and to advertise for
[14:40] >> and to advertise. Thank you for that.
[14:42] >> Thank you.
[14:42] >> Uh and to advertise. Any other
[14:44] discussion?
[14:45] >> Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any
[14:47] opposed?
[14:48] >> Thank you. And this is the end of the
[14:51] boards and commissions.
[14:53] >> It is.
[14:56] >> Is he the assumptive, Mr. Chairman?
[14:57] >> Yeah. Yes. We This council always says
[15:01] thank you to the boards and commissions.
[15:03] Um and
[15:06] there are some meetings that are
[15:07] particularly difficult. There are some
[15:09] meetings that are particularly easy. Um
[15:11] but all of those meetings means that um
[15:13] the men and women who live in this
[15:16] community take time away from their
[15:17] family and friends to serve this
[15:19] community and this council recognizes
[15:22] that. This town recognizes that by
[15:24] saying thank you. Thank you.
[15:27] >> The next item on the agenda is I1. This
[15:30] is CLA with the presentation of the
[15:33] fiscal year 2025 annual fis financial
[15:36] statements.
[15:38] >> The moment of the meeting we've all been
[15:39] waiting for. Oh boy. Yeah. No pressure
[15:42] at all though.
[15:44] >> Welcome.
[15:45] >> Thank you.
[15:46] >> Floor's yours.
[15:47] >> Um, so do you all have my slide deck or
[15:50] >> We received it from the clerk. Yes. So,
[15:54] and I think Erica, do you have that that
[15:56] we're able to put it up on the TVs?
[16:03] » Our truly capable. Uh, Eric is going to
[16:06] get that up on There it is right there.
[16:07] >> Gota love it when it works.
[16:09] >> Yes.
[16:10] every other year.
[16:11] >> That's fun when it doesn't work, right?
[16:13] So,
[16:14] >> so my name is Steve Gross. I'm a audit
[16:16] principal at CLA. I'm tasked with
[16:19] overseeing and ultimately signing off on
[16:20] the engagement. Um, I'll just do a brief
[16:24] overview. So, when we move on to the
[16:26] next slide, it's just a legal disclaimer
[16:29] so we can move on from that. So, I'm
[16:32] going to be covering four things. the
[16:34] audit scope, financial highlights,
[16:37] required communications and then some
[16:39] questions afterwards.
[16:42] Um so
[16:44] our engagement is essentially we do
[16:46] three different tasks uh for the town.
[16:49] We first report on the engagement under
[16:52] generally accepted auditing standards.
[16:54] This is your basic financial statement.
[16:56] So this is your balance sheet, the P&L
[16:59] and everything that's encompassed within
[17:01] there. For that uh for that financial
[17:04] statement, we issued a unmodified or
[17:06] clean opinion. This is the highest rated
[17:08] opinion that you can get. Um the second
[17:11] report is under generally accepted
[17:13] government auditing standards. This is
[17:15] also commonly known as your yellow
[17:17] bucket report. It provides a report on
[17:19] internal controls over financial
[17:20] reporting, compliance with laws, grants,
[17:23] and regulations.
[17:25] um we only had one finding related to
[17:26] that which was a significant deficiency
[17:29] on internal controls over that financial
[17:31] reporting. This just relates to a bunch
[17:34] of cleanup items that we had from prior
[17:36] year audits that me and the finance
[17:38] director kind of work together with to
[17:41] resolve in the current year. So I don't
[17:43] expect this finding to be carried going
[17:45] forward. So this kind of just a one-year
[17:48] finding as we just need to clean up a
[17:50] bunch of stuff. Um and then the third
[17:53] item is uniform guidance. This is also
[17:55] commonly known as the federal single
[17:56] audit. So this is all your federal
[17:58] grants that's received through the town.
[18:00] ARPA CWG are the are the main ones and
[18:04] we had no instances of non-compliance
[18:06] related to those grant uh compliance.
[18:10] Moving on, uh this is a highlevel view
[18:13] of your governmentwide financial
[18:15] statements. So the first column is
[18:18] essentially all the talents activities
[18:20] minus sore activity and your pension
[18:23] activity and then that business type is
[18:26] just your sore activity since you have
[18:27] no other enterprise funds. Um there was
[18:30] some increases in the assets and the
[18:32] liabilities. These increases relate to
[18:35] the issuance of the bonds in fiscal year
[18:38] 25 and the incre and then the purchasing
[18:41] and the capitalizing of those assets.
[18:46] And then moving on to the next page.
[18:51] Uh this is your governmental fund
[18:54] balances on essentially your P&L for
[18:57] your general fund and then all of your
[18:58] other funds that aren't related to store
[19:00] fund or your pension plan pension bank.
[19:03] As you can see near the bottom, uh you
[19:07] got 219,000 in uh in excess over
[19:12] revenues over expenditures, which means
[19:15] that you had brought in more money than
[19:17] you spent. So that's always a good
[19:19] thing. So that added to your fund
[19:20] balance. Um, you could also see that
[19:23] with your other funds as well, which
[19:25] also increased $737,000,
[19:29] which in total was just shy of a million
[19:32] dollars of increase in fund balance.
[19:38] Moving on, this is just a representation
[19:41] of the general fund and the fund
[19:42] balance. This is kind of what uh a lot
[19:44] of the bond rating agencies look at is
[19:47] your fund balance. So, I kind of just do
[19:50] a little blurb on that. Um, essentially
[19:52] what they look at is your assigned and
[19:54] unassigned. Essentially, that's what is
[19:56] considered your rainy day fund. Um, in
[19:59] fiscal year 25 that was around $10.1
[20:02] million.
[20:03] Um usually uh rating agencies as well as
[20:08] the auditor general for the state around
[20:10] recommends having a percentage around 15
[20:14] to 20% of your fund balance should be
[20:17] reserved for rainy day just because you
[20:20] don't know what's going to happen
[20:21] tomorrow or the next day. So it's always
[20:23] good to have that reserve in there. And
[20:25] it also helps your bond rating, right?
[20:27] So when you have a higher bond rating
[20:29] that means you the cost to borrow is
[20:31] less. So um so that's what this is kind
[20:35] of breaking out and if you look at the
[20:37] last three years you can see that fund
[20:39] bounce gradually increasing which means
[20:41] you're um having a little bit more in
[20:44] that rainy day bond.
[20:48] Moving on to the next one. This is just
[20:50] a highle view of your shore enterprise
[20:52] fund. Um, this had a negative change in
[20:55] net position of $555,000,
[20:59] but overall since you still have $23
[21:01] million in fund balance, um, that fund
[21:04] still seems to be pretty healthy. So,
[21:07] Steve,
[21:08] >> just stopping there for a second. So, we
[21:10] saw a decrease there, but that was on
[21:13] council action taken so we could do uh,
[21:15] we'll call it capital improvements,
[21:17] >> right? Yeah, you can see that through
[21:19] the transfer thou $575,000.
[21:22] That's kind of what that council action
[21:24] is. So essentially you're just eating
[21:25] into some of that that position. So
[21:28] >> thank you. Please.
[21:30] >> All right. Moving on to the next slide.
[21:33] This is just your fund deficits. Uh
[21:35] essentially all these are those
[21:37] aggregate remaining funds that aren't
[21:39] part of the general fund. Um it
[21:41] accumulates to around $1 million. This
[21:44] could just be timing issues. So, if you
[21:46] have a grant that's outstanding that
[21:48] hasn't been collected yet, you might be
[21:50] showing a negative fund balance until
[21:52] that grant gets collected in the in the
[21:54] following fiscal year, or you're waiting
[21:57] for bond money to come through to
[21:59] essentially offset that uh that uh
[22:04] excess expenditure.
[22:09] Moving on, this is a highle view of all
[22:12] of your debt. So on the top section,
[22:15] it's your governmental activities. Um
[22:18] there was the addition of the $2.8
[22:21] million bond in fiscal year 25, but that
[22:25] was pretty much offset by the debt
[22:26] service. So overall the debt service
[22:28] decreased. Your net pension liability,
[22:31] which is all those state plans that uh
[22:34] the town holds since uh as well as your
[22:37] police pension plan that showed a
[22:40] decrease. So that went from $13 million
[22:44] to $10.7 million. So that's just driven
[22:48] by actuarial assumptions as well as how
[22:50] your performance did on your investments
[22:53] held in the pension
[22:55] uh plans. And then for the business type
[22:57] activities, there was that $2 million
[22:59] loan that was issued through the Rhode
[23:02] Island Infrastructure Bank. And then
[23:04] that was just offset by current year
[23:05] debt service on the remaining
[23:07] outstanding debt that year.
[23:11] Moving on, this is just a highle view of
[23:15] your budget to actual. Um, as you can
[23:18] see near the bottom, there was 800,000
[23:21] that was appropriated for fund balance,
[23:23] which wasn't needed this year as you
[23:25] still had a uh a surplus during the year
[23:28] of $376,000.
[23:31] So just means that uh each department is
[23:35] moning monitoring their expenditures and
[23:38] not going over uh what they were
[23:41] budgeted and allocated for by the town
[23:43] council.
[23:49] Now going back to the federal single
[23:50] audit, this is the uniform guidance. Um
[23:53] so we tested two programs. It was ARPA
[23:56] and CDBG
[23:57] uh that represented around 2.25 25
[24:01] million. So essentially we tested about
[24:05] 66% of uh the total federal awards of
[24:09] 3.84%
[24:11] and like I mentioned before there was no
[24:13] compliance findings and we're going to
[24:15] look to issue a unmodified opinion on
[24:17] those uh on grant compliance.
[24:19] >> Yes, if I may on the ARPA there are okay
[24:23] is that that is is there a balance at
[24:26] this point or is we cleaned out? So we we do have a small balance left. We
[24:32] need to spend the money by December 26
[24:35] in order if we don't forfeit the funds,
[24:37] but trust me, we can use the money in
[24:40] our projects we have all over the town.
[24:42] >> So I took that as we'll spend the money.
[24:43] >> We would.
[24:44] >> So there's a small amount.
[24:46] >> Oh, okay.
[24:47] >> My recommendation would be to spend the
[24:49] money by 12:30.
[24:50] >> Yeah,
[24:52] >> we'll follow that.
[24:55] >> And then uh required communications.
[24:57] This is uh communications by us your
[24:59] auditors to you the council who's in
[25:01] charge of governance. Uh there was only
[25:04] one uh Gazby that we implemented during
[25:09] fiscal year 25 which relates to
[25:11] compensated absences. Uh there was two
[25:14] significant estimates that were part of
[25:16] our audit. Both the net pension
[25:17] liability and the net oped liability
[25:19] which in your case is actually a net op
[25:21] asset. um there's a lot of actuarial
[25:24] assumptions that underly those numbers
[25:26] that s that relate to you know making
[25:29] projections of mort mortality as well as
[25:32] investment return on your uh pension
[25:35] plan and OKA plans. So based on those
[25:38] estimates they can shift a little bit
[25:40] and those balances can obviously
[25:42] fluctuate a lot because of those
[25:44] assumptions.
[25:46] uh we considered none of our the
[25:48] disclosures sensitive to the financial
[25:51] statements. We had no we encountered no
[25:54] difficulties in performing the audit.
[25:58] Moving on to the next page. There was no
[26:00] uncorrected misstatements.
[26:02] We did have some restatements that I
[26:04] mentioned earlier. These were all a
[26:05] bunch of cleanup items that occurred
[26:07] this year which we won't expect going
[26:09] forward. Um, one was related to the
[26:13] Gatsby 87 leases which were there was a
[26:15] bunch of less sour transactions that
[26:17] needed to be reported to the general
[26:19] fund which they have since been
[26:21] reported. Um, this applied both to the
[26:24] governmental activities as well as the
[26:25] general fund. There was also a
[26:28] correction of the capital assets just to
[26:30] agree to the underlying uh schedules
[26:33] that were provided by the finance
[26:35] director. uh there was the removal of
[26:37] the sore portion of the net OPEC asset
[26:41] that was being double counted on both
[26:42] the governmental and the business type
[26:45] activity financial statements. So we
[26:47] essentially just pulled that activity
[26:49] out and now it's just standing on the
[26:51] sore fund. Um then we removed the double
[26:55] counting of bond funds. So essentially
[26:58] there was some adjustments made by the
[26:59] previous auditor where they essentially
[27:02] just double counted the money that was
[27:04] being held by Round Infrastructure Bank.
[27:06] So all we did was just remove that
[27:07] double counting on the governmentwide on
[27:10] the fund level which is what the town
[27:12] manages. There was no double counting.
[27:14] So this was just storing the 34 entries
[27:17] to the governmentwide financials. And
[27:19] then we adjusted the bond premiums as
[27:22] well, which is also one of those 34
[27:24] entries that the previous auditor uh is
[27:27] responsible for plugging at the end of
[27:28] the day. For the business type, we only
[27:31] had two corrections which was also
[27:33] related to the capital assets. Uh they
[27:36] didn't agree to the underlying ledgers
[27:38] provided by the town. So we just
[27:39] adjusted those balances to what the town
[27:42] had on record. And then there was a
[27:44] capital fund that it was held that's on
[27:48] the books for the town which wasn't
[27:50] included in previous audits. So we added
[27:52] that fund. It's related to the sore
[27:54] enterprise capital.
[27:56] >> Did any of those corrections have any
[27:58] impact on the budget?
[28:01] It it would not no adjustments need to
[28:04] be made to the budget though. Right.
[28:06] >> There was no adjustments to the budget
[28:08] related to any of these restatements.
[28:10] Essentially what would happens is how
[28:12] you budget it, we would just adjust it
[28:14] through the budget to gap
[28:16] reconciliation. So it had no effect on
[28:19] the budget as a whole.
[28:20] >> Gotcha.
[28:21] >> It's just essentially gap cleanup.
[28:26] >> Um lastly, we had no disagreements with
[28:29] management.
[28:32] Uh we were not aware of management
[28:34] consulting any other independent
[28:36] accountants during our audit.
[28:39] uh there was no significant issues
[28:41] discussed with management prior to the
[28:42] engagement. There was no significant
[28:44] findings or issues that were discussed
[28:46] for the subject of correspondence with
[28:49] management there on other than was
[28:51] already mentioned before. uh there was
[28:53] no other audit findings or issues and
[28:56] then there was two other things that
[28:57] were added to the audit financial
[28:59] statements that of the RSI which
[29:01] includes your budget pension and OKAP
[29:04] schedules and then the stat information
[29:06] which is your tax collector schedule
[29:10] and with that is there any questions
[29:12] that the town answered
[29:14] >> yeah um I call and team I want to thank
[29:18] you you know obviously the town's on
[29:21] good financial footing and we appreciate
[29:24] you keeping an eye on everything. Um, I
[29:26] had a question on the Gatsby 101. If you
[29:29] could just sort of explain what that
[29:31] means. I didn't I don't really
[29:32] understand it.
[29:33] >> Sure.
[29:34] >> And um, two, the uh, fund deficit that
[29:37] you mentioned that was a million plus.
[29:38] It's due to timing of some kind of
[29:41] something coming in if that is that
[29:43] going to be addressed.
[29:44] >> Okay. So, I'll handle question one. So,
[29:47] question one is Gatsby 101. So that
[29:50] relates to compensated absence. So in
[29:53] the past uh compensated absences was
[29:55] calculated as an approval. So it's like
[29:57] all right if the town was ceased
[29:59] operations as of 6:30, how much would
[30:02] the town owe all of its employees? And
[30:05] essentially that's how the calculation
[30:06] was until this year. And what changed
[30:10] was is what isn't paid anymore. So what
[30:13] is acred by the employee but isn't paid
[30:16] out by by the town at the time of
[30:18] termination. So let's look at sick time
[30:21] for example. Say that sick time is only
[30:25] paid out 50% when you terminate from the
[30:28] city either through retirement or the
[30:30] employee leaves. Right?
[30:32] >> Um on the old way you just say all right
[30:35] they had 20 hours they get 50 50% of it.
[30:39] They get paid out 10 hours. Now we're
[30:41] looking at the other 50% which is what
[30:43] doesn't get paid out. And what we do is
[30:46] we look at historical information and
[30:48] see how much of that time we expect that
[30:50] employee to use prior to their ter
[30:52] termination. So all we're doing is
[30:55] trying to figure out of the 10 of the 10
[30:58] hours they're not going to get anymore.
[31:00] Um how much do we expect them to use by
[31:03] the time they they leave either through
[31:05] termination or through retirement. So if
[31:08] we expect them to use 20% of their time,
[31:10] we now acrew two more additional days on
[31:13] top of the 10 days that you're already
[31:15] going to pay out via cash and that's
[31:18] what we now acrew.
[31:20] >> Okay. So it's a projection.
[31:21] >> It's essentially a it's an estimate.
[31:23] Yeah.
[31:23] >> An estimate. Yeah.
[31:24] >> Yes.
[31:25] >> Okay. Thank you.
[31:26] >> And then the second item, I don't know
[31:28] if Carl wants to touch on that subject.
[31:31] >> Sure. I can address that. So the
[31:33] negative fund balances in some of the
[31:35] accounts are reimbursements and trans
[31:38] for instance we get reimbursed as you
[31:41] notice as you know we're doing a lot of
[31:43] RIP financing now and the difference
[31:46] between a ribbon and a go bond the go
[31:49] bond we get the money all up front and
[31:52] RIP financing it's it's draw down so we
[31:56] expend the money out of the general fund
[31:59] then we have to get reimbursed by RIP
[32:01] for the money. So that's that's
[32:03] basically how it works. And some of the
[32:06] funds we wait we're waiting for the
[32:08] money back from RIP such as the grants,
[32:11] all the all the RIP financing grants. I
[32:14] know Ed does a lot of them with the
[32:15] trees in uh Independence Park where they
[32:19] do a yearly report. They they we upload
[32:22] it to RIB. RIB reimbures us for all of
[32:25] those all of those funds. And a lot of
[32:28] the other funds that are showing
[32:30] negative are reimbursed by the state as
[32:32] well, which some come came back in FY26.
[32:36] We saw that clear up 25's negatives.
[32:39] What I did was and I want to send to the
[32:41] council tomorrow. I have it prepared is
[32:44] every single one of the negatives.
[32:46] You're going to see how it's going to be
[32:48] resolved as far as if it was resolved
[32:50] already reimbured by 26 and how we're
[32:52] going to resolve. There's still some
[32:54] small ones out there which could be
[32:56] clean up from years ago wheelchair
[32:59] grants for is one of them. It's small
[33:01] amount of money that probably the amount
[33:04] should come from to make up the
[33:05] difference could come from the general
[33:06] fund. You're thinking like $800 or
[33:09] something to that effect. So any of the
[33:10] big ones it's accounted for basically by
[33:13] reimbursement from different sources uh
[33:16] state RIP and other and other agencies.
[33:19] So, um there's a few of them that we
[33:22] need clean up on and research on because
[33:24] some of them are carried over from like
[33:26] 21 22. They just continue to roll over
[33:29] because of the funds just continue to
[33:31] roll year after year. So, um yeah, that
[33:35] just needs some we need to be clear.
[33:37] >> That deficit money keeps rolling over
[33:39] from year after year or is that at some
[33:41] point we just we just just close it out?
[33:44] >> Okay, we just close it out.
[33:46] >> Close it out. Got it.
[33:48] >> Thanks, Cole. Yeah, Mr. Chairman, I'll
[33:50] just say um
[33:52] >> thanks Carl. I think that what we've
[33:54] heard today demonstrates that this
[33:56] council and the administration and the
[33:59] staff that we have behind all of this,
[34:03] we're good stewards of taxpayer money
[34:05] and that like even when we did use that
[34:09] fund balance, what was it? $2 million. I
[34:11] think Mr. Chairman, you just said that
[34:12] while he was uh talking about that,
[34:14] that's for a major capital project. We
[34:16] weren't using $2 million on a one-time
[34:19] expenditure or anything like that. It
[34:21] was a $2 million expenditure for
[34:24] something that was going to last about
[34:25] 15 to 25 years, and that was road
[34:27] maintenance. So, it's something that
[34:30] when we're spending today, it's going to
[34:32] benefit future future taxpayers.
[34:36] >> See, there's a reason why you don't need
[34:38] to worry about when I make those
[34:40] motions, you know.
[34:43] Not
[34:45] no but in all truth uh you know really I
[34:48] have to concur with the uh our my
[34:52] colleagues you know that uh we are we
[34:54] are in a very good position you know
[34:56] when we hear the news about Krenston
[34:59] well other municipalities let's not
[35:02] mention too many of those even in
[35:04] Massachusetts you know you sit there and
[35:06] you go hm we're not too bad after all
[35:10] for as much as people sometimes complain
[35:12] you know we are doing a very good job
[35:15] overall. We being good stewards all
[35:17] around, you know, not just the council,
[35:19] but uh obviously the staff. You folks do
[35:21] a good job keeping the books, you know,
[35:23] for the town and obviously the oversight
[35:26] by the administrator as well.
[35:30] >> Mary,
[35:31] >> no interest. I think it's like we're
[35:33] always in very good shape and um I thank
[35:36] everyone that keeps a good eye on
[35:38] everything, it makes it so much easier, I I've worked in a
[35:42] community that can't keep track of their
[35:44] accounting for the last three years and
[35:47] it's a disaster. So, it's very wonderful
[35:50] to see that we are not anywhere near
[35:52] that situation and that we have a good
[35:55] handle on our financial situation and
[35:58] that we're able to take advantage of of
[36:00] situations that come up that may require
[36:02] funding because we have, you know, our
[36:04] fund balances, we have money in the
[36:06] bank, so to speak. And um I'm very proud
[36:09] of like our community and that we're
[36:11] able to for many many years have a very
[36:14] good financial report and that we're
[36:17] financially sound. So thank I think
[36:19] everyone that is involved that
[36:22] >> I will finish by saying wanted to add
[36:25] something.
[36:25] >> Yes. If I may just you know from one of
[36:28] the colleagues for 40 years here with
[36:30] the town government uh that means a lot
[36:33] you know on that statement.
[36:34] >> Agreed. Agreed. So I my colleagues
[36:38] covered it real quick.
[36:40] We had no management letter. No
[36:43] management letter is an outstanding
[36:45] achievement. And I'll take a moment to
[36:48] again say thank you Carl your department
[36:50] Lan the efforts and energies that go
[36:53] into this. Um Carl and the
[36:57] administrator, in fact, I should have
[36:59] said that earlier and the clerk did
[37:01] remind me at the beginning of the
[37:02] meeting that um Steve Contenti is not
[37:05] here this evening because he's at the
[37:07] high school giving out awards on behalf
[37:09] of the town.
[37:10] >> Um so he is there doing important work
[37:13] as we're doing important work here.
[37:15] Steve, thank you for your um run through
[37:18] of the work that you did. Um so the no
[37:21] management letter I keep coming back to
[37:22] that because that is that is clearly
[37:25] saying that good work is being done
[37:26] here. Um and um you our new auditing
[37:31] firm did an outstanding job. We had a
[37:34] lot of changes over the last year
[37:36] including new accounting software which
[37:38] is a tremendous change. If anybody's
[37:41] gone through any kind of software change
[37:43] at their employer we all know how
[37:46] difficult it is. It is not fun. So that
[37:49] in and of itself is an outstanding um
[37:52] the change from uh the improvements that
[37:54] we're seeing with your firm we very much
[37:57] appreciate.
[37:57] >> Thank you so much.
[37:58] >> Um the fund balance going up is is is a
[38:02] phenomenal uh next step and it's always
[38:05] we're doing a good job with that which
[38:07] speaks to no structural deficit here.
[38:10] We're not building uh to
[38:12] >> to bring it down. So so many good things
[38:14] here. Um I just wanted to say again
[38:17] thank you. Um I know my colleagues and I
[38:20] work very hard on this. We are
[38:22] ultimately responsible for it but like
[38:24] we talked about there's nothing that
[38:26] anyone can do alone. So outstanding job
[38:28] to all of you.
[38:29] >> Um help me with uh are we accepting this
[38:32] report? It I don't know the motion
[38:34] necessary.
[38:35] >> It would be to accept the financial
[38:36] statements as presented.
[38:38] >> So moved. Second.
[38:39] >> Motion made by Tim, seconded by Tony as
[38:42] stated. Is there any other discussion
[38:44] hearing? None. All in favor? I. Any
[38:46] opposed?
[38:47] >> Thank you.
[38:49] so much.
[38:50] >> Yep.
[38:52] >> Mr. Chairman, members of the council,
[38:53] the next item on the agenda is I2. This
[38:55] is tax assessum and this is the
[38:57] resolution for 2026 of the town of
[39:00] Bristol authorizing the assessment of
[39:01] valuations and levy of taxes, sewer
[39:04] service fees, and sewer assessments.
[39:06] >> Hi, Chris.
[39:07] >> Good evening.
[39:08] >> Quick uh rundown as we do this every
[39:11] year, please.
[39:12] >> Okay. So I think this is more just a a
[39:14] rubber stamp on the budget that was
[39:15] already approved. Um nothing not much
[39:19] has changed since then. Um so the the
[39:22] levy is basically you know staying
[39:24] intact to what you approved in the uh 53
[39:28] 624 724.
[39:30] Um the tax rate for our homestead tax
[39:34] rate is projected at 9.939
[39:39] or or $9 uh 94 per thousand and our
[39:44] nonhomestead rate will be at 10.986
[39:50] roughly you know $10.99
[39:52] per thousand. Right. Right in line with
[39:55] what was
[39:56] >> It's a little bit less than what we had
[39:57] figured.
[39:58] >> About a penny less on each,
[40:00] >> but it is less than Chris. Can you say
[40:01] it out loud for me?
[40:05] » That's the question. Is it less?
[40:09] >> It's the little things, Chris.
[40:12] >> Take what you can get.
[40:13] >> It really is.
[40:13] >> Any questions from the council?
[40:15] >> Uh, can you repeat those numbers again,
[40:17] please? Was 9.39.
[40:19] >> Yeah. So, the homestead is um 9.939.
[40:23] >> Oh, 939. Okay.
[40:26] >> And the nonhomestead and commercial is
[40:30] 10.986.
[40:32] >> Thank you.
[40:34] >> Going in the right direction.
[40:35] >> So, if there's no questions from the
[40:37] council, we just need a motion to adopt
[40:38] the resolution.
[40:39] >> So, move.
[40:40] >> Yeah. Move to adopt the resolution.
[40:42] >> All right. So, I
[40:43] >> second.
[40:44] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim as
[40:46] stated. Any discussion? Hearing none.
[40:49] All in favor? I.
[40:50] >> Any opposed?
[40:51] >> Thank you. Thank you, Chris.
[40:52] >> Thank you, Chris.
[40:54] >> The next item on the agenda is I3. This
[40:56] is Chris Rooney, forestry manager with
[40:58] Rhode Island Energy, requesting the
[41:00] council's consideration for Rhode Island
[41:02] Energy to administer tree growth
[41:04] regulators on specific trees throughout
[41:06] the town of Bristol.
[41:07] >> Welcome, Chris.
[41:08] >> Good evening.
[41:09] Um so Rhode Island Energy
[41:12] with um approval and awareness of the
[41:15] PUC is starting to use tree growth
[41:18] regulators. And what a tree growth
[41:20] regulator does is it directs growth
[41:23] instead of growing back into the wire
[41:25] zone. It takes some of that energy and
[41:27] stores it into the tree into the trunk
[41:29] of the tree and helps the root system.
[41:32] So, what it does is for us as a utility
[41:35] when when we prune a tree, it wants to
[41:37] grow back into the space that we just
[41:39] trimmed out. This slows that growth down
[41:42] and then makes the next trip into town
[41:44] where we have to we don't have to take
[41:46] as much of the tree out and we don't
[41:48] have to use as many police details, lock
[41:50] up the road for a lot of work, that type
[41:52] of stuff. So, it's essentially an effort
[41:54] to reduce future work. The plus about
[41:57] the tree growth regulators is that it
[41:58] provides some beneficial uh health
[42:00] characteristics to the tree. So the tree
[42:03] becomes more insect and disease
[42:05] resistant and um just provides it a
[42:07] little bit more strength to handle the
[42:09] day-to-day. You know, it's not a
[42:11] vitamin, but it it's close and it's um
[42:14] it's been pretty well established over
[42:16] the years and used in various areas in
[42:19] Rhode Island. We've used it uh Rhode
[42:20] Island Energy has used it in Newport,
[42:23] Providence. We just did the uh east
[42:24] side. We've done it on DOT owned trees.
[42:28] So before we went and explored using it
[42:30] in Bristol, we approached the uh town
[42:32] administrator about a month ago, had a
[42:35] nice meeting with them, informed them of
[42:36] what we were thinking about. Um he uh
[42:39] also gave it to the conservation
[42:41] commission to look over and and study
[42:44] and um both of them I think provided
[42:46] findings to you all and and the the
[42:48] biggest part with this is the
[42:50] transparency. Rhode Island Energy is not
[42:52] trying to pull anything over. We're just
[42:54] trying to be, you know, this is what the
[42:55] benefits are to this program. It is a
[42:57] new uh effort that we are doing compared
[42:59] to National Grid. We tried it with
[43:02] National Grid. I was um I've been in
[43:04] this position 20 years. So, I've trimmed
[43:06] Bristol multiple times um as the
[43:09] forestry manager and this is a this is a
[43:10] tool in our toolbox to help help the
[43:13] situation get better.
[43:14] >> Chris, I don't want to end I I don't
[43:16] want to go negative, but you talked
[43:18] about the positive. Is there what are
[43:20] the negatives? Are there negatives?
[43:22] They're at cost.
[43:24] >> So, this won't hurt the tree.
[43:26] >> No.
[43:27] >> Um, it's not going to hurt the
[43:28] surrounding ground. It's not going to
[43:30] affect, for example, like a well or
[43:32] something like that.
[43:33] >> Nope.
[43:34] >> Wildlife. I was going to ask the same
[43:36] question. Wildlife.
[43:37] >> The The only thing it would affect is if
[43:39] somebody put flowers around the tree
[43:41] that we were going to treat where that
[43:43] those flowers would would uptake that
[43:45] stuff and slow the growth of the the
[43:47] >> So, they'd be stronger flowers. Well,
[43:49] they they would be significantly small.
[43:54] >> So that's So and it since you've brought
[43:57] that up, is there a radius that it
[44:00] affects?
[44:01] >> Um it all depends on the strength of the
[44:03] tree. So there's certain trees in
[44:04] Bristol that are uh lynen trees. Yeah.
[44:07] >> So right now we have crews on ferry
[44:09] road. Um unfortunately
[44:12] lynen trees want to become a hedge. So
[44:15] for every cut you make, another sprout
[44:17] comes back and it is a very difficult um
[44:20] place to trim. This would hopefully help
[44:22] our workers four years from now not have
[44:24] to take as much and they can stay
[44:26] further back from the wires and also
[44:27] prevent um you know help us prevent
[44:30] outages better. Okay. Council,
[44:34] >> I was looking through the pictures that
[44:36] were provided to us and one of them to
[44:38] your point about the the tree, it sort
[44:41] of redirects the energy of the tree to
[44:43] the roots. And it was interesting
[44:46] because to your point, you know, storms
[44:48] and all of that, if the trees are
[44:50] growing stronger, well, there it is. The
[44:52] reduction in damage and uh, you know,
[44:55] all the things that we have to deal with
[44:57] currently presently. So, yeah. Thank
[45:00] you. For
[45:00] >> for full transparency, what we intend to
[45:03] do is provide a list to the tree warden
[45:04] so he knows where we're going to be. So
[45:06] if there's any questions, comments, he
[45:08] has any concerns, he'll know exactly
[45:09] before we treat those trees. Um the
[45:12] trees on Hope Street and uh High Street,
[45:15] which are state, it will be the same
[45:16] thing. We will provide a list to the
[45:18] state of the trees we intend to treat.
[45:19] We'll get a permit from them so there's
[45:21] full transparency and there's there's no
[45:23] surprises.
[45:23] >> So what is the um information? So this
[45:27] is completely non-toxic to the
[45:30] environment.
[45:30] >> It it's there is a little bit just like
[45:33] fertilizer is or a tide pod. It's very
[45:35] low impact.
[45:37] >> So what is it that it would potentially
[45:39] hurt like no
[45:40] >> insects, bees,
[45:42] >> it wouldn't have it wouldn't affect any um environmental like insects or
[45:46] bees or anything like that. It's not a
[45:48] pesticide. It falls into a weird
[45:50] category as a tree growth regulator. So,
[45:52] it's not a it's not a fertilizer, but
[45:54] it's also not a a a herbicide or an
[45:56] insecttoide. So, it's not it's not
[45:58] stopping anything from growing. It's
[45:59] just making the tree grow smaller.
[46:02] >> So, is it um that will it in any way
[46:05] weaken the trees?
[46:06] >> No.
[46:08] cuz I just I just personally found out
[46:10] that a hurricane like um you know like
[46:14] the the deductible is like 40ome
[46:16] thousand you know on my house if a town
[46:19] tree if a tree fell on it but um I am a
[46:23] little concerned about the toxicity or
[46:25] anything like that because I am also
[46:28] concerned I I have to say it I know
[46:30] there's probably not any options but the
[46:32] V-shaped trees do not really look like a
[46:35] tree canopy you know that we're well
[46:37] known for. Um, and people come through
[46:40] and see like a, you know, a place that
[46:43] gets awards for its treeline streets. I
[46:46] mean, it's constantly I don't know if
[46:47] there's any other way to make them less
[46:49] obvious of a wishbone or not. But
[46:51] >> so, and that's the bright spot is that
[46:53] hopefully if this works, I'm taking half
[46:55] of the V out compared to the full V
[46:57] where it would be four years from now.
[46:59] So, the the tree wants to grow back and
[47:01] fill in exactly where we pruned. So our
[47:04] cycle in Bristol, we're not we've never
[47:06] really gone back further than we've
[47:08] traditionally gone back. So the cuts
[47:10] that you're seeing now are where we've
[47:12] cut to in the past. So it's just like
[47:13] mowing the lawn. You got to go back
[47:15] every four years. Um this hopes to
[47:18] reduce the amount that we have to take
[47:20] out every year, every time we come back.
[47:22] So that that's the hopes and dreams of
[47:23] this.
[47:25] >> All right. Thank you.
[47:26] >> And the tree boarding would have a list
[47:27] of what trees oversee. So we would have
[47:30] a record of what trees were treated and
[47:32] versus what ones were not.
[47:34] >> Yes, sir. Okay. As a matter of fact, in
[47:36] the city of Providence and Newport, we
[47:38] put this into their tree inventory
[47:39] system so they know what trees we
[47:41] treated and on what date. So we want
[47:43] full transparency.
[47:45] >> I must tell you the way that you
[47:47] explained it and how you're explaining
[47:49] it, how you uh want to make sure that
[47:52] you keep saying full transparency and I
[47:56] love it. I it's I'm I'm I don't mind
[47:59] saying I'm a little concerned because
[48:01] this is new and different and slowing
[48:04] down natural growth does make you kind
[48:06] of question but um you have a Purdue
[48:10] University study in front of us. We have
[48:12] our um conservation commission giving it
[48:15] a thumbs up. Um everything that we would
[48:18] normally go to, not Purdue but studies
[48:20] and we could go to Purdue I guess,
[48:23] right? Um but our conservation
[48:25] commission on a on a a situation like
[48:27] we're getting thumbs up and your
[48:29] explanation and what seems to be a great
[48:31] benefit makes sense. So um m
[48:34] >> Mr. Chairman, I I'll just reinforce a
[48:37] lot of what you were saying here is that
[48:39] >> just having the support for the from the
[48:41] conservation commission on this was very
[48:44] important for me and uh the these
[48:46] resources I think were provided by the
[48:48] conservation commission. I think that
[48:50] they actually went through all of these
[48:52] resources and read them, summarized
[48:55] them, interpreted them, and made some
[48:58] sort of decision on the basis of that
[49:00] and knowing about who we know serves on
[49:03] that conservation commission. I have a
[49:05] lot of confidence in the report or in
[49:07] their recommendation here.
[49:10] So, we need in my uh and please disagree
[49:14] u but we need a motion to approve the
[49:18] plan in front of us from the forestry
[49:21] manager of Rhode Island Energy.
[49:23] >> So, move.
[49:25] >> I'll second based on the
[49:26] recommendations.
[49:27] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim as
[49:29] stated. Any discussion?
[49:32] >> Hearing none. All in favor? Any opposed?
[49:34] Thank you. Thank you, Chris. Thank you
[49:36] very much.
[49:36] >> Thank you,
[49:39] >> Mr. Chairman and members of the council.
[49:41] The next item on the agenda are the
[49:42] bids. The first bid is J1. This is bid
[49:46] 1087. This is for the townwide heating
[49:49] ventilation air conditioning repair
[49:51] maintenance contract. We had the bid
[49:53] openings today at noon. We received two
[49:55] bids for that. We have the um automatic
[49:58] temperature control incount of 51,880
[50:02] and we also have the Ardent Engineering
[50:04] in the amount of 58,676.
[50:07] >> I make a motion we refer to the town
[50:09] administrator to act in the best
[50:11] interest of the DO. Second motion made
[50:13] by Tony, seconded by Tim as stated. Any
[50:15] discussion hearing? None. All in favor?
[50:18] >> I. Any opposed? Thank you.
[50:20] >> The next item on the agenda is bid 1088.
[50:23] This is for the townwide landscaping
[50:25] contract. We also had the bid today at
[50:27] 12:00. We received one bid opening for
[50:30] that and that's from Dave Pont's
[50:31] Landscaping Services and it was um a
[50:34] three-year contract with year 1 at
[50:36] 334,730,
[50:39] year 2 at 346,445
[50:43] in year 3 at 358,751.
[50:48] » I make a motion to refer to the D
[50:50] administrator to act in the best
[50:51] interest of the DO. Second.
[50:53] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Mary.
[50:55] Any discussion?
[50:57] >> Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any
[50:59] opposed?
[51:00] >> Thank you.
[51:01] >> The next item on the agenda is I3. This
[51:03] is bid number 1089. This is the curbside
[51:06] collection of residential yard waste. We
[51:08] did also have the uh bid opening today
[51:10] at noon. We received one um bid from
[51:15] Mega MTG disposal
[51:18] and it's broken down in a three-year
[51:20] contract and a 5-year contract. The
[51:22] three-year base bid service only was a
[51:25] total bid amount of 100 I'm sorry,
[51:27] 1,841,400.
[51:31] And you'll see it broken back into
[51:32] three-year segments. each um indicates
[51:35] the um disposal at the Rhode Island
[51:38] Resource Recovery Center and the other
[51:40] one at the town compost facility and
[51:42] they both mimic each other for each
[51:44] year. And then we also had the 5-year
[51:46] base bid for service only with the total
[51:50] base bid of the 5-year at 2,737500,000.
[51:54] And this also has the one toy year five
[51:57] um disposals at the RIRC and the town
[52:00] facility both mimicking each other.
[52:02] Um I have a question. Does this come
[52:05] close to what we had anticipated or had
[52:08] projected uh when we received the the uh
[52:11] the proposal through the budget?
[52:13] >> I believe it's a lot. It's a little bit
[52:14] higher.
[52:15] >> It's a little higher than expect that
[52:16] would been happening in our header room.
[52:19] >> Okay. Based on I make a recommend I mean
[52:23] uh yes recommendation to refer to the D
[52:25] administrator to act in the best
[52:27] interest of the D.
[52:30] >> Second.
[52:30] >> Motion made by Tony. Seconded by Tim as
[52:32] stated. Any discussion? Hearing none.
[52:35] All in favor? I.
[52:36] >> Any opposed? You.
[52:38] >> And the next item on the agenda is J4.
[52:40] This is bid number 1090. This is the
[52:42] 2627 Tree Planting Landscaping Service.
[52:45] We had the bid opening today at noon and
[52:48] we had
[52:49] six bids for that one. The first bid was
[52:52] from HG Landscaping Services LLC in the
[52:55] amount of $380 per tree. We have the
[52:58] Coastal Companies with the bid amount of
[53:01] $53,542
[53:03] per tree. We had Landscaping Services,
[53:06] Inc. in the amount of $387 per tree. We
[53:10] had M Landscaping Inc. in the amount of
[53:12] $350 per tree. We had Regal Tree and
[53:16] Shrub Experts LLC and this was in the
[53:19] amount of $660 per tree. And the last
[53:21] one was from Northeastern Tree Services
[53:24] in the amount of 520 per tree.
[53:27] I make a motion to refer to the town
[53:29] administrator to act in the best
[53:31] interest of the town.
[53:33] >> Second
[53:33] >> motion made by Tony, seconded by Tim as
[53:35] stated. Any discussion?
[53:37] >> Just how it varies the amounts, you
[53:39] know, from uh the lowest to the highest,
[53:42] you know, but the administrator will
[53:45] read through that.
[53:46] >> Any other discussion? Hearing none. All
[53:48] in favor?
[53:50] >> Any opposed? Andy, can I Oh, I'm sorry.
[53:54] Can I add that? And now that agenda
[53:56] item.
[53:57] >> Yeah.
[53:58] >> Okay. Um I'd like to just place an
[54:00] agenda item. Uh just uh extending our
[54:03] sympathies to Joan Doyle Roth. If I
[54:05] could add that to the agenda.
[54:08] >> Is there a second?
[54:08] >> Second.
[54:09] >> Motion made by Mary, seconded by Tim.
[54:12] All in favor?
[54:13] >> I.
[54:13] >> Any opposed? Mary?
[54:15] >> Um yes. I just wanted to take a moment
[54:17] to extend um our sympathies on behalf of
[54:20] the town and our our my colleagues here.
[54:23] Um, for those of you, many of you know
[54:24] Joan Joan Doyle Roth. She passed away on
[54:27] Memorial Day, I believe it was. And she
[54:29] was 99, close to 100. Her birthday would
[54:32] be in October. And for those of us who
[54:35] knew knew Joan, she's an absolute
[54:36] treasure of our community. And if you
[54:39] didn't know Joan, she's a treasure, an
[54:41] icon, an enthusiastic supporter of all
[54:44] things of her of her beloved Bristol.
[54:47] Um, she was very involved with so many
[54:49] things like she was a music teacher. she
[54:51] if you've ever been to the many moves of
[54:53] Christmas concert or the concerts on the
[54:54] common which she helped start um
[54:57] anything like that Joan would have been
[54:59] you know right in the middle of it and
[55:02] um she also was on the original
[55:04] committee I won't go through her whole
[55:06] list because there's a lot um very very
[55:08] involved the Rotary um club in Bristol
[55:11] as was her aunt who played the um piano
[55:15] there every week um and uh one of the
[55:18] original um committee members first to
[55:21] save Lynen Place in the late 1980s. She
[55:24] was just an absolute jewel and knew
[55:26] everything about Bristol and Bristol
[55:28] history and loved sharing it. Often
[55:30] called on to be like a little tour guide
[55:33] if there's a bus tour in Bristol. Kind
[55:35] of got brought into that, knew
[55:37] everything about it and she certainly
[55:38] will be be missed. And I just wanted to
[55:40] extend our sincere um condolences to her
[55:44] daughters uh Joanna and to Kathy uh um
[55:47] Katie.
[55:49] >> If I may, if I may add to that, um when
[55:52] I became administrator in Little Compton
[55:54] and they found out I was from Bristol,
[55:56] one of the things people would ask is,
[55:58] "Do you know John Roth?"
[55:59] >> Yes.
[56:00] >> I go, "Do I know Joan Roth?" Oh, yes. Uh
[56:03] she was a teacher actually in Little
[56:05] Compton, a music teacher in Little
[56:07] Compton for quite a few years as well.
[56:09] She left quite an impact in the
[56:10] community. I can tell you that.
[56:13] >> Yeah.
[56:13] >> Mary Tony, well said. I love the the
[56:16] word treasure. I think that was well
[56:18] said.
[56:18] >> Thank you.
[56:19] Mr. Chairman, for letting me
[56:20] bring that up.
[56:20] >> Of course, Andy.
[56:23] >> Yes. I would ask for a motion to go into
[56:26] executive session under Rhode Island
[56:28] General Laws section 42-46-5A2
[56:33] pertaining to litigation.
[56:36] um regarding the case 1 col 26-
[56:42] CV-0000150-MS-PAS
[56:49] town of Bristol versus Transportation
[56:51] Security Administration at all.
[56:55] >> Council move second.
[56:57] >> Motion made by Tony, seconded by Mary.
[57:00] Any discussion? We were going into
[57:03] executive session now. We will end our
[57:05] meeting in public but the video will
[57:08] stop now. So good night. Thank you.